Interactive shelving system

ABSTRACT

Example embodiments disclose an interactive shelving system to display sport teams including a display board to depict standings for at least two divisions of a sport conference, a plurality of sport tokens being movable on the display board to represent a current standing of a respective sport team, and a plurality of shelves to support and hold the plurality of sport tokens. One set of the plurality of shelves represent one division on one side of the display board, and the other set of the plurality of shelves represent the other division on the other side of the display board, a right center shelf to represent the division champion on the one side of the display board, a left center shelf to represent the other division champion on the other side of the display board, and a center shelf to represent an overall conference champion.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a shelving system for displayingrepresentative sports teams at their respective rankings.

BACKGROUND Description of Related Art

Due to the competitiveness in sports, the rankings in sports teamschange throughout the season. Most fans will track their favoriteteam(s) via reading the news publications, TV sports news, the Internet,etc. Hence, it has become difficult in tracking the rankings of thesports teams.

Further, most sport fans follow a particular team throughout the seasonin a particular division and/or conference. This particular sport fanmight not be too concerned with the other teams in other divisionsand/or conferences and, therefore, might wish to follow only one team.Moreover, this particular sport fan would also like to track theprogress of its respective team throughout the season and recognize theranking within the division and/or conference.

Hence, in view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art to provide adisplay that displays a particular team in its respective divisionand/or conference, and adjust the rankings as the season progresses.

SUMMARY

At least one embodiment relates to a shelving system for displayingrepresentative sports teams at their respective rankings.

In a further example embodiment, the shelving system may depict two tothree levels of championship.

At least one example embodiment discloses an interactive shelving systemto display sports team tokens, such as helmets, footballs, soccer balls,baseballs, basketballs, shotglasses, etc., at their level of playingsuccess throughout the sports season. The shelving system may include adisplay device with shelves to depict the standings for two divisions,one division on each side of the wall board, the champion for eachdivision near the center of the wall board and the overall conferencechampion in the top center, with a tag below the champion shelf whichdisplays conference champion or league champion. As the sports seasonprogresses, the sport team tokens can be moved to their respectivestanding shelf, division champion shelf and overall conference championshelf.

Example embodiments disclose an interactive shelving system to displaysport teams including a display board to depict standings for at leasttwo divisions of a sport conference, a plurality of sport tokens beingmovable on the display board to represent a current standing of arespective sport team, and a plurality of shelves to support and holdthe plurality of sport tokens. One set of the plurality of shelvesrepresent one division on one side of the display board, and the otherset of the plurality of shelves represent the other division on theother side of the display board, a right center shelf to represent thedivision champion on the one side of the display board, a left centershelf to represent the other division champion on the other side Of thedisplay board, and a center shelf to represent an overall conferencechampion.

In a further example embodiment, the plurality of sport tokens may be atleast one of helmets, footballs, baseballs, basketballs, bats, andshotglasses.

In yet a further example embodiment, the helmets may be football helmetsrepresenting the respective sport teams.

In a further example embodiment, the interactive shelving system mayinclude a tag, below the center shelf, to represent the overallconference champion.

In yet a further example embodiment, the tag may be reversible todisplay the division champion or the overall conference champion.

In yet a further example embodiment, the display board may include anindentation so that tag may be inserted within the indentation.

In a further example embodiment, the interactive shelving system mayinclude a reinforcement member at edges of the display board.

In yet a further example embodiment, the reinforcement member may bemade from at least one of a metal and a plastic material.

In a further example embodiment, the plurality the shelves may bedetachable from the display board.

In a further example embodiment, the plurality of shelves may beattached to the display board via a fastening device.

In yet a further example embodiment, the fastening device may be atleast one of glue, a screw, a nut, a nail, a rivet, and an anchor.

In yet a further example embodiment, a back side of the display boardmay include a marking grid to be used as an alignment tool.

In yet a further example embodiment, the marking grid may be a checkeredpattern of a square configuration.

Example embodiments disclose an interactive shelving system to displaysport teams, including a display board to depict standings for at leasttwo divisions of a sport conference, the display board may be made ofmagnetic material, a plurality of sport tokens being movable on thedisplay board to represent a current standing of a respective sportteam, each of the plurality of sport tokens may be made of magneticmaterial, and a plurality of shelves to support and hold the pluralityof sport tokens. One set of the plurality of shelves represent onedivision on one side of the display board, and the other set of theplurality of shelves represent the other division on the other side ofthe display board, a right center shelf to represent the divisionchampion on the one side of the display board, a left center shelf torepresent the other division champion on the other side of the displayboard, and a center shelf to represent an overall conference champion.

In a further example embodiment, the display device may be made of amagnetic material to attract miniature sport tokens, which is also madefrom a magnetic material.

In a further example embodiment, the display device may include a metaltag provided below a center shelf to designate the type of champion,such as conference champion or league champion.

In yet a further example embodiment, the metal tag may be switched, viamagnet attached to the shelving system, one side to display theconference champion and the other side to display the league champion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features and advantages of the non-limiting embodimentsherein may become more apparent upon review of the detailed descriptionin conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawingsare merely provided for illustrative purposes and should not beinterpreted to limit the scope of the claims. The accompanying drawingsare not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted. Forpurposes of clarity, various dimensions of the drawings may have beenexaggerated.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shelving system according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 1A is an exploded view of a shelf of the shelving system accordingto an example embodiment.

FIG. 1B is an exploded view of a shelf of the shelving system accordingto another example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a shelving system according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a shelving system according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a back view of a shelving system according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a shelving system with helmets accordingto an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Detailed descriptions of the illustrative embodiments are disclosedherein. Specific structural and functional details are also disclosedherein, however, are merely representative for purposes of describingthe example embodiments. For example, although the example embodimentsmay be described with reference to a football conference, it isunderstood that the example embodiments may also be usable in othersporting events. The example embodiments may be exemplified in manyalternate forms and should not be construed as being limited to thespecified example embodiments set forth herein.

It should be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on,” “connected to,” “coupled to,” or “covering” another elementor layer, it may be directly on, connected to, coupled to, or coveringthe other element or layer or intervening elements or layers may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyon,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another elementor layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout the specification. As usedherein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one ormore of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third,etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components,regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions,layers, and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. Theseterms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region,layer, or section from another region, layer, or section. Thus, a firstelement, component, region, layer, or section discussed below could betermed a second element, component, region, layer, or section withoutdeparting from the teachings of example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms (e.g., “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,”“upper,” and the like) may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It should be understood thatthe spatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in thefigures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elementsor features. Thus, the term “below” may encompass both an orientation ofabove and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptorsused herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing variousembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference tocross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofidealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of exampleembodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations asa result are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments should not beconstrued as limited to the shapes of regions illustrated herein but areto include deviations in shapes that result. For example, a shelvingsystem display may be illustrated as a rectangle, typically, includingrounded or curved features. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figuresare schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustratethe actual shape of a region of a device and are not intended to limitthe scope of example embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, including those defined incommonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant artand will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal senseunless expressly so defined herein.

Although example embodiments display a current standing of each team ina sports league, such as a National Collegiate Athletic Association®,more specifically, Southeastern Conference SEC®, it should beappreciated that other sports leagues internationally or in the UnitedStates, such as Major League Baseball®, the National Football League®,the National Hockey League®, the National Basketball Association®, MajorLeague Soccer®, or the Nextel Cup Series® for NASCAR®, for example, maybe used to represent the respective sport teams. For the purposes of thedescription, teams associated with the Southeastern Conference SEC® incollege football, will be utilized in describing the present disclosure.

At least one example embodiment discloses an interactive shelving systemto display sports team tokens at their level of playing successthroughout the sports season. The shelving system may include a displaydevice with shelves to depict the standings for two divisions, onedivision on each side of the wall board, the champion for each divisionnear the center of the wall board and the overall conference champion inthe top center, with a tag below the champion shelf which displaysconference champion or league champion. As the sports season progresses,the sport team tokens can be moved to their respective standing shelf,division champion shelf and overall conference champion shelf.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shelving system according to anexample embodiment. More specifically, FIG. 1 depicts a shelving system1 for displaying representative sports teams. The shelving system 1 mayinclude a display device 10 in form of a board having a generally planarsurface on which a particular sport or sport team may be displayed. Inan example embodiment, the board of display device 10 may have a graphicdesign of a college sports conference, such as the SoutheasternConference SEC®. It should be appreciated that any graphic design may beemployed as the background of the display device 10.

The display device 10 may be generally rectangular in shape. However, itshould be appreciated that other shapes may be utilized, including butnot limited to, a square, circular, triangular, or diamond shaped. Thedisplay device 10 may be made out of wood, plywood, fiberboard, plasticor any other suitable material. Further, the display device 10 may becomposed of a magnetic material to obtain a magnetic characteristic.

The display device 10 may further include a reinforcement member 15provided at the edges of the display device 10. The reinforcement member15 may provide protection against dents, cracks, breakage, etc. Thereinforcement member 15 may be made of a metal. It should be appreciatedthat other materials, such as, e.g., plastic may be used.

The display device 10 may further include shelves 20 for holdingminiature sport tokens. The shelves 20 may be attached to the displaydevice 10 by various fastening means, such as, but not limited to, glue,screws, nuts and screws, nails, rivets, anchors, etc. It should furtherbe appreciated that the shelves 20 may be joint fitted with the displaydevice 10, which excludes the use of external fasteners.

It should further be appreciated that more or less shelves may beattached to the display device 10.

In an example embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the shelves 20 may bearranged to accommodate all teams for the particular sports conference,i.e., the Southeastern Conference SEC®. In this instance, fourteencollege team shelves would be displayed as seven West Division teams onthe left side of the display device 10 and seven East Division teams onthe right side of the display device 10. It should be appreciated thatnumbers may be displayed on the board of each shelf representing thedivisional standing number.

Further, the display device 10 may include a left center shelf 22 whichmay represent the West Division champion, and a right center shelf 24which may represent the East Division champion. A top center shelf 28may represent conference champion or league champion. Hence, as theseason progresses, the user may interactively place the miniature sporttokens in accordance to their respective rankings.

Referring to FIG. 1A, below the top center shelf 28 may include anindention 35 in the display device 10. The indention 35 may be formed sothat a magnet (not shown) below the shelf may be inserted and attachedwith adhesive to secure a metal tag (not shown) denoting the champion ofthe league and/or conference. It should be appreciated that theindention 35 may be replaced with a hole 36 in which the metal tag maybe inserted therein, as shown in FIG. 1B.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the display device 10 may include a pluralityof holes 41 near the top edge thereof for the purpose of hanging thedisplay device 10 on a wall. The holes 41 may be pre-fabricated duringmanufacturing.

FIG. 4 is a back view of a shelving system according to an exampleembodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the back of the display device 10includes a marking grid 53. The marking grid 53 may be used as analignment tool to hang the display device against a wall. The markinggrid 53 may be in a checkered pattern of a square configuration. Thesquare configuration may be equally spaced in relation to the size ofthe display device 10. It should be appreciated that other shapes and/ormarkings may be employed for the marking grid.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the holes 41 may be reinforced with abracket 47 to support the fastening device, e.g., screw or nail. Thebracket 47 may be made of metal or plastic.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a—shelving system with helmets accordingto another example embodiment. Like numerals will be used to representthe same elements as compared to FIG. 1, with duplicity of elementsfound in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates miniature football helmets used torepresent the sports teams. The sport helmets are pocket sizemanufactured by Riddell, Inc., for example.

The shelving system 1 may include a display device 10 in form of a boardhaving a generally planar surface on which a particular sport or sportteam may be displayed. The display device 10 may be made of a magneticmaterial to attract the miniature sport helmets 50, which is also madefrom a magnetic material. As shown in FIG. 5, the display device 10includes shelves 20 to depict the standings of the respective teams, andat center of the display device 10, a shelf 28 is provided forrepresenting the champion of the conference.

The display device 10 may further include a tag 55 provided below theshelf. 28. The tag 28 is provided to represent the champion ofconference champion or league champion. The tag 55 may be made of metalso as to display alternative champion type. For instance, the metal tag55 may be switched one side to display the conference champion, and theother side to display the league champion. To brand the champion team aseither conference champion or league champion, the metal tag 55 may beturned over and re-magnetized to the appropriate championship.

The display device 10 may include graphics 58 to identify theconference. There may also be other graphics on the board of the displaydevice. For example, a) title at very top—in the SEC example, the titlemay be listed as “College Football Tracker;” (b) division title—in theSEC example, the left title for the standing shelves is “WesternDivision” and the right title for the standing shelves is “EasternDivision;” (c) conference logo prominently displayed below the centereddivisional champion shelves; (d) the divisional teams will be listedunder the divisional title, one on each corresponding side.

An interactive shelving system to display football helmets (or sportsteam symbols: could be helmets, footballs, baseballs, basketballs, bats,shotglasses, etc.) at their level of playing success throughout thefootball season (or sports season). Shelves are used to depict (1) thestandings for two divisions, one division on each side of the wallboard, (2) the champion for each division near the center of the wallboard and (3) the overall conference champion in the top center, with ametal tag below the champion shelf attached by a magnet which displaysconference champion or league champion. As the football season (orsports season) progresses, the football helmets can be moved to theirrespective standing shelf, division champion shelf and overallconference champion shelf. If the team also wins the leaguechampionship, the metal tag is turned around to display as the leaguechampion.

The cover may be made out of glass, plastic or wood with glass orplastic front.

While a number of example embodiments have been disclosed herein, itshould be understood that other variations may be possible. Suchvariations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure, and all such modifications as would beobvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within thescope of the following claims.

1. An interactive shelving system to display sport teams, comprising: adisplay board to depict standings for at least two divisions of a sportconference; a plurality of sport tokens being movable on the displayboard to represent a current standing of a respective sport team; and aplurality of shelves to support and hold the plurality of sport tokens,wherein one set of the plurality of shelves represent one division onone side of the display board, and the other set of the plurality ofshelves represent the other division on the other side of the displayboard, a right center shelf to represent the division champion on theone side of the display board, a left center shelf to represent theother division champion on the other side of the display board, and acenter shelf to represent an overall conference champion.
 2. Theinteractive shelving system according to claim 1, wherein the pluralityof sport tokens are at least one of helmets, footballs, baseballs,basketballs, bats, and shotglasses.
 3. The interactive shelving systemaccording to claim 2, wherein the helmets are football helmetsrepresenting the respective sport teams.
 4. The interactive shelvingsystem according to claim 1, further comprising a tag, below the centershelf, to represent the overall conference champion.
 5. The interactiveshelving system according to claim 4, wherein the tag is reversible todisplay the division champion or the overall conference champion.
 6. Theinteractive shelving system according to claim 4, wherein the displayboard includes an indentation so that tag is inserted within theindentation.
 7. The interactive shelving system according to claim 1,further comprising a reinforcement member at edges of the display board.8. The interactive shelving system according to claim 7, wherein thereinforcement member is made from at least one of a metal and a plasticmaterial.
 9. The interactive shelving system according to claim 1,wherein the plurality the shelves are detachable from the display board.10. The interactive shelving system according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of shelves are attached to the display board via a fasteningdevice.
 11. The interactive shelving system according to claim 10,wherein the fastening device is at least one of glue, a screw, a nut, anail, a rivet, and an anchor.
 12. The interactive shelving systemaccording to claim 1, wherein a back side of the display board includesa marking grid to be used as an alignment tool.
 13. The interactiveshelving system according to claim 12, wherein the marking grid is acheckered pattern of a square configuration.
 14. An interactive shelvingsystem to display sport teams, comprising: a display board to depictstandings for at least two divisions of a sport conference, the displayboard being made of magnetic material; a plurality of sport tokens beingmovable on the display board to represent a current standing of arespective sport team, each of the plurality of sport tokens being madeof magnetic material; and a plurality of shelves to support and hold theplurality of sport tokens, wherein one set of the plurality of shelvesrepresent one division on one side of the display board, and the otherset of the plurality of shelves represent the other division on theother side of the display board, a right center shelf to represent thedivision champion on the one side of the display board, a left centershelf to represent the other division champion on the other side of thedisplay board, and a center shelf to represent an overall conferencechampion.
 15. The interactive shelving system according to claim 14,further comprising a metal tag, below the center shelf, to represent theoverall conference champion.
 16. The interactive shelving systemaccording to claim 14, wherein the metal tag is reversible to displaythe division champion or the overall conference champion.
 17. Theinteractive shelving system according to claim 14, wherein the displayboard includes an indentation so that metal tag is inserted within theindentation.